Bending machine



June 15 ,1926.' 1,588,817

H. C. SMITH BENDING MACHINE Filed Nov. 13,19 2 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 15 1926. 1,588,817

. H. c. SMITH BENDING MACHINE Filed Nov. 13, 1922 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 nj Q.

June 15 1926. 1,588,817 H. 3. SMITH 'BENDING MACHINE Filed Nov. 15, 1922 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 June 15 1926. 1,588,817

H. C. SMITH BENDING MACHINE Filed Nov. 13, 1922 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 N gmlenfom atta n June 15 1926.

1,588,817 H. C. SMITH BENDING MACHINE Filed Nov. 13, 1922 6 Sheets-Sheet -5 June 15 1926.

H. c. sMm-a BENDING MACHINE Filed Nov. 13, 1922 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 llll Patented June 15, 1926.

UNITED stares HENRY COLLIER sivrrrrr, or s'r. ARYS, orrro.

BENDING MACHINE.

Application filed November 13, 1922. Serial No. 600,534..

This invention relates to machines for is a central longitudinal section of this marolling sheets of metal into the form of troughs and for curving the troughs longitudinally, and especially to form sheets of metal into the fenders of motor vehicles, and its object is to provide a machine of this character which is adapted to impart a re verse curve to the work, and to provide means for guiding the trough through the machine in such a manner so that the sides of the trough will be of equal width at any given cross-section through the trough, so that troughs with varying widths of flanges in different parts thereof may be produced.

Another object of .this invention is to provide a bending machine of this character which shall be of great strength, which shall be simple in construction, and wherein the several parts which engage the work can be instantly released by the operator and the entire operation of the machine be accomplished with a minimum of effort on the part of the operator. I

I This invention consists in a metal bending machine which embodies a pair of rolls, a shoe arranged at one side of the rolls and co-operating therewith to cause the metal blanks or troughs to become permanently curved longitudinally or in a plane at right angles to the axes of the rolls, manually operated means to shift the bending shoe to vary the curvature of the blanks, and guides for the bending shoe.

It further consists of means for holding the bending shoe to any desired position, of releasing mechanism whereby the stresses on the bending shoe can be instantly removed, and in guiding dogs on the bending shoe to properly position the blanks.

It also consists in the details of construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings and particularly pointed out in the laims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a bending machine embodying the present invention. Fig. 2 is an end elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section of this machine. Fig. 4: is a similar section showing another bend-. iug shoe in position. Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the main bending shoe and its mountin g. Fig. 6 is a similar view of an auxiliary bending shoe. Fig. 7 is a section on the line 7-7 of Fig. 5. Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the structure shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 9 is a section on the line 99 of Fig.- 8. Fig.- 10

ohms. Flg; 11 is a section on the line 1111 of Fig. 10. Fig. 12 is a vertical section of the mechanism for turning the shaft which controisthe position of the bending shoe. Fig. 13 is an end elevation thereof. Fig. 14. s an end elevation of the device for limiting the movement of this shaft. Fig. 15 is a front elevation thereof. Fig. '16 is a section on the line 1616 of Fig. 15. Fig. 17 is a vertical section showing the construction of the bending rolls. Fig. 18 is a section on the llne 18-18 of Fig. 17. Fig. 19 is a view, partly in elevation and partly in. section of the controlling mechanism. Fig. 20 is a section on the line 20-20 of Fig. 19.

Similar reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views.

This machine embodies a base 1 on which are removably mounted the end frames or pedestals 2 and 8. The bending rolls are mounted on two roll shafts i and 5, the lower shaft 5 being mounted in the stationary bearin s 6 in the pedestals, as shown in F1g. 10. The upper shaft a is mounted in bearing sleeves 7 which are mounted on pins 8 (Figs. 17 and 18) carried by the boxes 9 that are slidable between the guides 10 formed on the pedestals. These boxes have lugs 12 on their upper sides which carry pins 18 extending throughthe eyes 141- at the lower ends of the bolts 15. These bolts extend through the arms 16 at the upper ends of the connecting bars 17 the lower arms 18 of these bars being mounted on the crank pins 19 which are carried by the cranks 20 on the shaft 21. An operating handle 22 is attached to the right end of this shaft and the upper roll-shaft therefor may be raised and lowered by means of this operating handle. This shaft is in two parts connected by a clamp 23 so that the left end may be left in position when the right pedestal 3 is removed for the purpose of changing the rolls. .The weight of these connecting bars 17' may be carried by the springs 24. y

The two roll shafts are connected by the gears 25 and26. whose pitch diameters about equalthe mean pitch diameter of the rolls. but as the metal to be bent necessitatesvary ing diameters at different points in the rolls there'is necessarily a sliding motion of both of the rolls on the sheet metal work. A pedestal 27 carries one end of the'countershaft 28 whose inner end is journaled in the adjacent end of the lower roll shaft 5 (Fig. 10). On this countershaft are journaled the pulleys 29 and 30 which'are driven in opposite directions by belts (not shown) and are formed with female clutch faces. A double male clutch is splined on the countershaft 28 and is slidable by the reversing lever pivoted at 31%.. A pinion 35 on this countershaft meshes with the gear 36 on the transmission shaft 37 which also carries a pinion 33 which meshes with the gear 39 on the lower roll shaft The details of this type of reversible driving mechanism are well known. Swinging of the lever 33 in either direction from neutral causes rotation of the roll shafts in either direction.

While any desired means may be employed to actuate the reversing lever 33. I prefer the following mechanism. A long rod 41 connects to a pin 4L2 carried in one of the holes 13 in the lower end of the lever 33 and to a pin l t in one of the holes 45 in a crank arm -16 on a shaft 17. S11 the front end of this shaft is mounted a double pedal 48%9 which is normally held in neutral position by means of a plate 50 on the pin 51 which is slidable in a lug 52 having a hole to receive this pin. A spring 53 between the lug and plate causes the double pedal and the lever 33 and clutch member to return to neutral position when released. T his plate 50 engages a yoke 5 1 attached to the shaft 17.

At the rear end of this shaft 4'? is a normally horizontal crank arm whose outer end connects by means of a link 56 to the rear arm 57 of a lever journaled on the shaft 21 and whose front arm 58 carries a rod 59 which extends down through a guide plate 60 in the floor and carries a foot plate 61. When the operator steps on the arm 49 of the double pedal, the rod 41 is pulled to the right, but when he steps 011 the adjacent foot plate 81, the rod is pushed to the left. He is thus able to reverse the machine without moving away from the handle 22 and the other control devices.

A hearing 63 is attached to the pedestal 3 for the shaft 64 and on it is mounted the sprocket wheel 65 and the hand wheel it bearing 67 carries a shaft on one end of which is a handle, 68 and on the other an arm 69 which carries a brake shoe 70 adapted to engage the brake wheel 72 on the shaft C l.

In the front of the base is journaled a shoe-controlling shaft 73 on which are two cranks 7 L, each carrying a crank pin 75 extending through the lower forked end of a connecting rod 76. At the upper ends of these connecting rods are pins 77 having guide rollers 78 on their outer ends and these rollers travel between the flanges 79 of the guide blocks 80 attached to the side frames 2 and as shown in Fig. 1. These pins receive either one or the other of the bending shoes, depending on whether the fender is to be curved up or down, the shoe for contacting with the upper surface of the fender being shown in Fig. 6 and the other in 5.

Before discussing the bending shoes, at tention is called to the bending rolls shown in Fig. 10. An upper roll 82 is slidably mounted on and keyed to the upper shaft l while the roll 83 is driven by the shaft 5 through a key 84:. Spacing collars 85 engage each end of this key 8 1 which prevents the rotation of the collars on the shaft 5. The set screw 86 secures the collar to the key. ()no end of this collar contacts with the end of the roll 83 and the other end with the nut 89, thus positioning the roll 83 between the nuts 89. The nuts 89 are provided with set screws 88 to engage thecollars 85 to prevent the nuts from working loose and the longitudinal adjustment of the roll 83 on the shaft 5 is accomplished by loosening the set screws 88, turning nuts 89, and then tightening the set screws 88 to lock the nuts 89. The roll 83 is made in two halves, the separation being in a plane at right angles to the shaft 5 and the nuts 89 can be turned to permit the two halves of the roll 83 to separate in order to allow for variation in the thickness of metal between the vertical faces of the upper and lower rolls. The upper roll is allowed to slide freely on the shaft l in order to automatically position itself symmetrically between the vertical flanges of the roll 83. Rings 92 in the lower roll and 152 on the upper roll are not secured to the rolls but are left free to revolve in the grooves in the rolls provided to receive these rings, the object of the separate rings being to take up wear. As the faces of the rings wear off, liners can be placed back of the rings to hold them in proper working position. The rings are quickly and easily replaceable. The upper roll is shown in Fig. 17 to be of two parts 150 and 151 with the replaceable wearing rings 152 in their outer ends. The two parts are adjustably secured together by means of the screws 153 to adapt the rolls for metal of different thicknesses, and to allow of taking up wear with liners between the two halves. This upper roll is slidable on. the shaftl but caused to turn therewith by a key 128. F lat sheets of proper size can be passed through between the rolls and given the trough shape, but it may be desirable to give the plates the trough shape by other means before passing the metal between the rolls. In order to curve this trough in aplane parallel to its sides, the shoes shown in Figs. 6 and 7 are employed either being adapted to be mounted on the pins 77. '1 The shoe shown in Figs. 1, 5, 8 and 9 is adapted to give the main curvature to the trough to produce that portion of a fender which extends over and partly around a vehicle wheel. It consists of a frame 9e preferably provided With a Wearing liner which can be renewed when worn. Lugs 96 extend forwardly from this frame and support the shaft 97 to which the crank arms 98 are attached. A collar 99 on this shaft receives one end of the spring 100 whose other end connects to one of the lugs 96 and normally tends to hold down the ends of these crank arms. The frame also has guide lugs 102 for the upright posts 108 which connect at their lower ends to the ends of the crank arms 98 by means of pins 10s. A hand lever 105 connects to this shaft and is adapted to elevate the posts 103 which carry the blocks 106 at their upper ends and these blocks carry the guiding dogs 107 which are adapted to engage the upper edges of the flanges 108 of the trough-shaped blank 109 shown in Fig. 5. The blocks are adjustable on the posts and the guiding dogs on the blocks so that the guiding dogs may be accurately positioned relative to the blanks between the rolls. They are raised by the lever 105 to admit the blank, but the spring is sufficiently strong to hold the blank centrally of the frame 9%, by pressing downward and exerting equal pressure on the flanges constituting the sides'of the trough. If the trough should not be fed squarely into the rolls, or if for any other reason the metal should work to one side, resulting in a wider flange on one side, the guiding dog on that side would press downward on the rising flange while the guiding dog on the other side of the trough would be free so that the whole force of the spring 100 would be exerted through the guiding dog on the high side, thus gradually pressing it downward and correcting theinac curate guiding of the metal between the rolls and resulting in flanges of equal width. The principal purpose of the two guiding dogs, however, is to overcome the tendency of the metal to crawl toward one side or the other, and'experience has shown that the guiding dogs insure accurate starting of the blank into the rolls, and its symmetrical passage through the rolls.

The metal may be first roughly formed by other means to a trough shape and when the trough is first presented to the rolls the guiding dogs are raised by pressing downward on the lever 105 until the end of the blank passes the dogs. The lever is then released and the dogs permitted to press down simultaneously on each side of the blank before it enters the rolls and properly position it. The blank is run forward through the rolls, the rear end passing the guiding dogs, allowing them to be moved downward by the spring 100. Vihen the rear end of the blank reaches the center of the rolls the machine is reversed and the blank backed out again, care being taken to raise the guiding dogs as the rear end of the blank approaches them in its return move ment. As soon as the rear end of the blank has passed under the guiding dogs, the handle 105 is released, allowing the dogs to come down again on the edges of the trough. The cross-sectioir of the trough being properly formed, the shoe 9% is raised and the trough is again passed forward into the machine, resulting in it being partially curved in a vertical plane. As the machine is easily reversed, the metal is passed backward and forward through the rolls, shoe 9 1 being further raised with each passage of the metal until the required curvature in a vertical plane is reached. In other words, after the proper transverse curvature is obtained the operator turns the wheel '66 to turn the shaft 73 to elevate the pins 75, the connecting rods 76 and frame or shoe 9%, which causes the blank to curve around the upper roll 82. If this curvature is of short radius, it is preferably produced by several passes of the blank between the rolls, but if the flanges of the trough are narrow and the curvature is of longer radius, a cornplete curve can be produced at one pass through the rolls. T

Keyed on the shaft 73 is a sprocket wheel 110 connected to the sprocket wheel 65 by means of the chain 112. A disk 113 is at tached to this sprocket wheel 110 by means of screws 11d and ring 115 of ratchet teeth are secured to this disk. These three parts may be integral if desired. In rolling a fender that is to have me curvature of one end the reverse of the curvature of the other part, that portion to be thus reversely curved is not acted upon by the shoe 9 1, the shoe being dropped be fore this portion reaches the rolis. When this part of the fender reaches the shoe the dropping of the shoe is accomplished by pulling up the lever handle 119 and disengaging the pawl 121 from the ratchet wheel 118, allowing the shaft 73 to turn back and the links 76 to descend and with them the shoe 9 1. When a fender having a. straight end is backed out by the rolls and the beginning of the curved portion reaches th normal position. of the shoe, the shoe is 115 again quickly raised to operative position by properly turning the pilot wheel 66, which raises the shoe 9a in the'manner previously described.

The upward movement of this bendin' shoe is limited by the arm 130 on the sha 7L) engaging a stop 131 adjustably secured by means of the bolt 132'to the semi-circular support 133 which has a dove-tail groove 13 1 in which the head 185 of this bolt is slidable.

The shoe to give the shorter reverse bends to the fenders is shown in Figs. 1 and 6. It consists of a body 1 10 having a removable wearing cap 14.1. The cross-section 'atthe middle point is shown in Fig. 4. it is mounted on the same pins 77 on the upper ends of the connecting rods 76 and these pins are guided by the same flanges 7 before. To give the fenders a reverse bend the blank is inserted into the rolls from" the rear of the machine by an assistant and the shoe fits the concave side of the blank and is pulled down to cause the blank to bend down over the roller 83 as indicated by the portion A of the dotted blank shown in Fig. the part ll being bent by the shoe shown in Figs. 3 and 5.

The shoe shown in Fig. 1 is in its elevated position and the shaft 73 is turned to the oft by the hand wheel 66 to force down the rejecting portion of the fender. -Jhen the nder has been properly bent, the shaft is cased and it is turned back the position ioiv i in Fig. 4.- by the coil spring 1&3 shown 1 which connects to the bearing .o' the shaftand to the collar attached to the shaft. This collar may be released while the curve B is being given to the fenders by means of the concave shoe or it may remain attached and serve to alsoie turn this concave shoe to normal position. In either case, the movements of the shaft may be limited by the arm 130 and stop 131.

The hand wheel 66 is normaly rotated by the spokes 116 which project-beyond the rim, but it may be necessary to increase the force exerted. F or this purpose a. sleeve 11( (Figs. 19 and 20) is loosely mounted on the shaft 6 1, being held in position by a collar 118. This sleeve has lugs 160 carrying a pin 161 on which a lever 162 1s pivoted and this lever is adapted to swing into the notches 163 in the rim of the Wheel When this hand wheel is released by handle 119 as before stated, the lever may swing back with the wheel 66. I may attach a frame to the lever 22 consist ing of collar 164 and rods 165 and 166, the latter having an inclined end 167 along which the lever 162 can slide to pull it out of the notch 163 in the wheel 66.

The details of construction and the proportions of the several parts of this bendn'iachine may all be changed'by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of my invention as set forth in the following claims.

I claim 1. in a bending machine, the combination of a frame, a roll jonrnaled therein, a. second roll above the first, bearings for the ripper roll and guides in the frame to permit vertical movement of said bearings, means to rot-ate the rolls, a shaft journaled in the frame, and means connected to said shaft and to said hearings to move the bearings up and down and comprising a. pair of cranks mounted on the shaft and connecting rods extending from the cranks to ected to said shaft is turned, and manually operable means for moving said shoe and shaft, said means comprising a hand wheel and a sprocket wheel connected thereto, a sprocket wheel keyed on the shaft, a chain connecting said sprocket wheels, a ratchet wheel secured to the shaft, a pawl engaging said ratchet, and means for releasing the pawl to permit return movement of the shaft.

3. In a bending machine, the combination of a pair of rolls, a shoe arranged at one side of said rolls and extending therefrom, guides for saic shoe, a controlling shaft and crank thereon, a connecting rod eX- tending from said crank to said. shoe to cause the shoe to move up and down as the shaft turned, manually operable means for moving said shoe and shaft, a spring to return the shaft to normal position, said means comprising a hand wheel and a sprocket wheel connected thereto, a sprocket wheel keyed on the shaft, a chain connecting said sprocket wheels, a ratchet wheel secured on the shaft, a pawl engaging said ratchet wheel, and means for releasing the pawl to permit return movement of the shaft.

4:. In a bending machine for sheet metal, combination of a pair of rolls, a bendshoe comprising a curved surface to receive the metal to be bent, and a guiding dog mounted at each edge of the shoe and adjustable substantially right angles to general plane of the sheet metal to enthe edges of the metal on the shoe and prevent lateral movement thereof.

in bending machine, the combination of a pair of rolls, a shoe arranged at one side of saio. rolls and extending therefrom, guides for said shoe, a controlling shaft and a crank thereon, a connecting rod extending from said crank to said shoe to cause the shoe to move up and down in the guides as the shaft is turned, manually operable means for moving said shoe and shaft. and means to determine the movement of said shaft in either direction.

I a bending machine, the combination a of rolls, a shoe arranged at one side of said rolls and exteneing therefrom, guides for said shoe, a controlling shaft and a crank thereon, a connecting rod extending from said crank to said shoe to cause the shoe to move up and down in the guides as the shaft is turned, and manually operable means for moving said shoe and shaft, one of said rolls being made of two parts adjustable longitudinally relative to each other to accon'nnodate the rolls to different thicknesses ofshcet metal.

7. In a bending machine, the combination of a pair of rolls, a shoe arranged at one side of said rolls and extending therefrom, guides for said shoe, a controlling shaft and a crank thereon, a connecting rod extending from said crank to said shoe to cause the shoe to move up and down in the guides as the shaft is turned, and manually operable means for moving said shoe and shaft, one of said rolls being provided with re placeable wearing rings at its ends.

8. In a bending machine, the combination of a pair of rolls, a pivoted bending shoe comprising a pressure surface for bending the metal, and guiding dogs mounted on the shoe for positioning the metal symmetrically relative to the shoe, said dogs being adjustable toward and from the pivotal line of the shoe.

9. In a bending machine, the combination of a pair of rolls and a pivoted bending shoe having a trough-shaped supporting surface for sheet metal blanks, and guiding dogs adjacent the sides of the shoe for engaging the edges of the metal and guiding it. symmetrically between the rolls, said dogs being adjustable toward and from the pivotal line of the shoe.

10. In a sheet metal bending machine, the combination of a pair of rolls, a shoe for bending a metal blank as it passes between or emerges from the rolls, guiding dogs adjustably mounted on said shoe to position the metal symmetrically in said shoe and between the rolls and adjustable substantially parallel to the plane passing through the axes of the rolls.

11. In a bending machine, the combination of a pair of rolls, a pivoted bending shoe having a trough-shaped surface to engage sheet metal blanks, and a guiding dog at each side of the shoe and adapted to engage the edges of the blank to position the blank as it enters between the rolls, said dogs being adjustable toward and from the pivotal line of the shoe.

1.2. In a bending machine for sheet metal, the combination of a pair of rolls, a bending shoe comprising a curved surface to receive the metal to be bent and movable in a path at an angle to the sheet metal passing through between the rolls to vary the degree of curvature being given to the sheet metal, a guiding dog mounted at each edge of the shoe to engage the edges of the metal on the shoe and prevent lateral movement thereof, guides for the shoe extending at an angle to the plane of the two rolls, and means to move the shoe and guiding dogs up and down, said guiding dogs being adjustable in paths substantially parallel to the path of the shoe.

13. In a bending machine, the combination of a pair of rolls, a bending shoe com-- prising a curved surface to receive the metal to be bent, and a guiding dog mounted at each edge of the shoe and adjustable at substantially right angles thereto to engage the edges of the metal on the shoe and prevent lateral movement thereof, said guide dogs being provided with grooves in their lower sides to receive said edges.

14. In a bending machine, the combination of a pair of rolls, a bending shoe comprising a curved surface to receive the metal to be bent, and a guiding dog mounted at each edge of the shoe and adjustable at substantially right angles thereto to engage the edges of the metal on the shoe and prevent lateral movement thereof, said shoe being provided with a post at each side on which the dogs are slidable and to which they can be secured.

15.111 a bending machine, the combination of a pair of rolls, a shoe arranged at one side of said rolls and extending therefrom, guides for said shoe, a controlling shaft and a crank thereon, a connecting rod extending from said crank to said shoe to cause the shoe to move up and down in the guides as the shaft is turned, and manually operable means for moving said shoe and shaft, one of said rolls being made in two halves and provided with replaceable wearing rings revolubly mounted on its ends.

16. In a bending machine, the combination of a pair of rolls, shoe arranged at one side of said rolls and extending therefrom, guides for said shoe, a controlling shaft and a crank thereon, a connecting rod extending from said crank to said shoe to cause the shoe to move up and down in the guides as the shaft is turned, manually operable means for moving said shoe and shaft, said means comprising a hand wheel and a sprocket wheel connected thereto, a sprocket wheel keyed on the shaft, and a chain connecting said sprocket wheels.

HENRY COLLIER sMrrH. 

